


They have passed like rain on the mountain

by pinkflowercrowns



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Elrond has nightmares, Elrond/Celebrían (mentioned) - Freeform, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Lindir is singing, Lindir the minstrel, M/M, Nightmares, Singing, and Lindir comforts him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 10:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17681372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkflowercrowns/pseuds/pinkflowercrowns
Summary: Strong are those, who admit their weakness.orElrond suffers from nightmares, and Lindir is there to help him.





	They have passed like rain on the mountain

A loud scream could be heard throughout all of Imladris. It was in the middle of the night, the moon was illuminating the Last Homely House, and the stars were sparkling in the firmament. All in all, it had been a quiet night, until someone led out the scream. But no one moved a single limb, most elves simply rolling over in their bed and continuing sleeping. They were used to the loud, shrill sound. They knew that it would be the only one. It had always been like that.

Elrond sat up in his bed, sweat dripping down his forehead, eyes blown wide, panting. His dreams had returned, making sleep nearly impossible. Sometimes, they even followed him throughout the day, when he was already tired from not being able to sleep properly. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see their faces, every time there was silence around him, every time he was alone, he could hear their voices. The guilt seemed to drown him, making it harder for him to move, to function as a normal being. Every thought, every dream, hurt somewhere deep inside him.

He had not been the leader, he was supposed to be. It was his fault that so many elves died. It was his fault that his wife had to leave Middle Earth. He could have saved everyone if he would have tried hard enough. If he would have stayed strong. If he made somebody listen to him. He had been too weak, too sweet, not convincing enough. So many things would have been prevented if someone would have listened to his advice.

His hands found their way to his face as he closed his eyes. He tried to remove a bit of the sweat while trying to fight the tears that started building in his eyes. He could get himself to breathe calmly again, feeling how his mind slowly cleared too. He knew it would not be for long, but he could think straight for a few minutes before the flashbacks would come back. Where was Lindir when he needed him?

~~

Lindir had not been in Elrond’s service for long when the dreams occurred again. Elrond had been able to suppress them for a while, mostly to not scare his new assistant, but even the strongest warriors lose their battles at some point. It had been a shocking sight for the young elf, not much older than Elrond’s sons (which was not that young since his sons already were over 2000 years old, but for him, it still was a lot younger than he was himself), seeing his Lord in such a state of mind. Celebrian had left Middle Earth only a few days prior, and that seemed to spark his dreams again. Lindir had stood in his door, clearly distressed at the Lord’s scream.

“My Lord, are you okay?”, he had asked and walked over to Elrond, sitting down on the side of his bed, his cold hands touching Elrond’s warm forehead. “Have you fallen ill? Your skin seems to burn.”

Elrond, still in a state of shock and a small amount of fear, could only shake his head, closing his eyes as Lindir’s hands seemed to cool his body down. He sighed when the younger elf left his side, only to return a few moments after with a bowl with water and a cloth. Soon after, he felt the wet cloth cleaning his face as Lindir mumbled soothing words.

“You should lay down again, my Lord, and rest for a while. You cannot get enough sleep when you are ill.”

Finally, Elrond could gather enough strength to speak, opening his eyes again to look at Lindir.

“This is no illness. At least not one that will leave anytime soon.”

Lindir looked at him in confusion, tilting his head slightly.

“That is your illness talking, not your mind, my Lord.”

Elrond sighed and looked up to the ceiling, as he quietly started to explain his dreams to the younger elf. He could not stop himself, the words seemed to pour out of his mouth without thinking about it. It felt good to talk about this, even if it made him seem weak. Waking his poor assistant in the middle of the night with a horrific scream was not a thing that made him seem strong, so why bother anymore?

Despite his believe (he thought that Lindir would laugh his dreams off and let him alone in this cold, dark room), Lindir listened carefully and nodded from time to time. One of his hands had found its way into Elrond’s hair, carefully stroking through it, sometimes playing with one of his strands. It somehow calmed Elrond down, making him sigh in relief once he was finished talking.

“And you held back this dreams for a long time?”

“Yes. I had to be strong for my children. They should not think that their father is weak, not in times like this.”

“The strongest men are those, who admit their biggest weakness, my Lord.”

Elrond turned his head to look into Lindir’s eyes. A soft smiled formed on his lips.

“You really do have the mind of a minstrel, Lindir.”

It had been a discussion they had had for a long time. Every time Elrond noticed Lindir singing quietly or coming up with a saying, he saw the creative mind his assistant had. He had told him often enough that he should pursue this path, coming up with songs and poems, but Lindir had brushed him off every time, denying his talents. The younger elf always stated that his place was at Elrond’s side, as his assistant, keeping Imladris in check when the Lord was not around. Elrond thought that it was wasted talent, but he could not change Lindir’s mind, so he was forced to just watch and wait.

“I do not, my Lord, and I will never have. Minstrels have another way of thinking, which I do not have.”

“Are you sure about that? You know that I heard you sing often enough to know that you have the voice of a minstrel. And your mind works exactly like a minstrel’s. Coming up with beautiful sayings.”

Even though it was fairly dark in the room, the moonlight made it possible to see how Lindir’s cheeks flushed red. He turned his head away.

“Do not say that, my Lord, because it is not true.”

“Prove me otherwise, then.”

Lindir closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, before starting a beautiful song. His voice was clear and Elrond could hear that Lindir sang out his emotions, growing up and living in Lothlórien for a while before coming to Imladris. It was a song about his home, something really close to his heart.

When Lindir opened his eyes the next time, he saw that Elrond had fallen asleep with a smile on his lips.

~~

From that day on, Lindir would come over every time Elrond had a bad dream. After a few nights with multiple dreams in a row, Lindir started to stay in Elrond’s rooms once Elrond had fallen asleep again. When their relationship started, Lindir was staying over more often in general, and he got more and more comfortable in the older elf’s rooms. For the elves around him, for example Glorfindel and Erestor, some of Elrond’s closest friends, and some other servants, it had become normal to find the both of them passed out on Elrond’s bed, even before their relationship had started and before the others knew that they were a couple.

Since that night, Lindir got more and more comfortable singing in front of others. It started with singing in front of Glorfindel and Erestor, sometimes to soothe their nerves, sometimes just for fun. At some point, Elrond found Lindir sitting with Elladan and Elrohir under a tree in a corner of the gardens, Elladan humming a melody, Elrohir playing on his lute and Lindir singing. It made Elrond happy that Lindir not only got more and more comfortable singing around other people (he could even convince Lindir to sing at bigger gatherings) but also that his talents made him more comfortable around other people in general. Lindir finally settled in, and he even made a few friends besides Glorfindel, Erestor and the twins.

But when he needed Lindir the most, he was not around. His dreams had gone back, giving him more and more nights of sleep, but sometimes they still occurred, and Elrond was more than happy when Lindir was next to him to calm him down. And right now, after another horrifying dream, he could use Lindir’s voice, but his lover was on a journey around Middle Earth, together with the twins. Maybe that was sparking his dreams again. The guilt of not only losing his sons but also his lover, just because he again did not send enough warriors with them. What if they did not return? What if they would suffer from the same fate as Celebrían?

He realized that his eyes were still closed when he felt another presence next to him. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head, looking directly into a pair of dark eyes. A smile formed on his lips, and he put an arm around Lindir’s waist, pulling him on his lap and burying his face in his shoulder.

“Lindir…”, he whispered quietly, breathing in Lindir’s smell. He always smelled like a fresh spring day.

“I’m here, Elrond.”

He felt Lindir’s hand in his hair, slowly stroking through it, playing with it. The cold bed was filled with warmth, the dreams began to disappear from his mind, leaving only calmness behind.

“The twins…”

“... are asleep and safe. Nothing happened. We are not hurt, and we are alive. Like I promised you.”

“Tell me about your journey.”

Lindir smiled and lifted Elrond’s head from his shoulder, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“I bet the twins want to tell you everything tomorrow. And it is more important that you rest.”

“You do not want anything else?”

They layed down, and Elrond pulled Lindir even closer, kissing him again.

“No, not tonight. I want you to feel safe. I want the dreams to go away.”

“The dreams went away when you entered the room.”

A quiet giggle escaped Lindir’s lips, his fingers dancing on Elrond’s chest, humming a melody, Elrond had never heard before.

“What is that song?”

“I learned it in a town of men. It’s a song from the Rohirrim.”

“Please.”

Elrond needed no more words, Lindir understood is plea perfectly. He started singing the first lines of the song, and when he finished, the room was quiet, the only sound being Elrond’s deep breaths. He had fallen asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> The mentioned songs are "Lorien" from the Lord of the Rings Musical and "The Lament of the Rohirrim" by J. R. R. Tolkien


End file.
